Adjustable escutcheon



' PfMUELLER. y A'DlusrABLE EscUT'cHEoN. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 192|.

l. Pa'fente NOV. 28, 1922.

fa f Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

STATES PHILIP MUELLER, 0F

nnca'run, itiiinors.`

ADJUSTABLE ESCUTGHEON.

Application filed March 22,`

To all whom may con-cera.'

Be it known that I, PHILIP MUELLER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful lmproveinents in Adjustable Escutcheons, of which the following is a specification.,

The present invention relates to adjustable escutcheons of the type shown, but not claimed, per se in my Patent No. 1,377,597, granted May 10, 1921, upon the co-pending application Ser. No. 337,488, filed November 12r` 1919, and designed more particularly for use in connection with wall or slab fittings for pipes, as, for example, the shanks of cocks or faucets, and relates specifically to means for securing an ornamental Harige. or escutcheon in adjusted position upon a cock or other similar member. l

The development is` of particular advantage in connection with escutcheons or flanges of vitreous material, which, being comparatively fragile, are likelyto become brokenif undue strain from fastening nuts, screws and the like is imposed upon them, and which, furthermore, present dificulties in the matter of providing efficient means for securing them snugly in place.

Various means have been provided for accomplishing this fastening of escutcheons, both of metal and vitreous ware, and while these different means have merit, they involve, so far as is known to me, somewhat complicated constructions, and the assembling of the parts is attended with some difiiculty.

It is with the object of providing a device which ,is simple of manufacture and assembly that the present development has been made, and which is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional view of so much of a wall board and fitting as is necessary to a disclosure of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the escutcheon which is designed to be secured in place, and

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the locking nut which cooperates with the escutcheon.

Referring` to the drawings by numbers, like numbers indicating like parts in the several views, 10 indicates a wall board, slab or abutment, it being here shown as arranged in vertical position. In the rear of the slab 1921. serial No. 454,401.

is shown the T-'itting 11, lwhich will, of course, be connected in to the pipe line. 12 indicates the shank of the cock, which may be of any suitable construction, and in which will be mounted the valve `(not shown) to which will be secured the valve stem 13 having `any suitable handle 14, aI cap nut 15 to engagethe threaded end of the shank being provided. f i i 1t is desirable in all fittings of this kind that the shank of the,l faucet and the apertures in the wall or slab be covered and closed,'and this is very usually accomplished by a suitable escutcheon. At the present time escutcheons of vitreous material or fine .ish are in favor, and with the use of such escutclieons, `since vitreousware cannot be conveniently or successfully threaded to the parts, independent fastening means must be provided.

ln the present showing, an escutcheon 16 of sufficient size to enclose the parts and of any appropriate design is provided, the escutcheon having a base torest flat upon the wall or slab 10 and being interiorly cham- `bered to receive the parts ofthefaucet which are to be covered. rlhe escutcheon 16 is provided at a point near its base with an annular recess 1.7, this recess having at one side, namely the side nearest the base, the inwardly depending rib sections 18, the interruptions between the rib sections being in the' form of radially disposed apertures 19, four being shown in the present instance.

This construction is designed for the purpose of receiving the escutcheon locking nut or clamp, which, as shown, is threaded upon the shank 12 of the faucet, this shank being threaded through a considerable portion of its length to give a proper length of travel to the nut to insure its clamping action, which will now be described. The recess 17 has at one or more points in its periphery lugs 20 to make rotative engagement with the nut 21, which nut is preferably, as shown herein, provided with one or more radially projecting lugs 22, the dimensions of which are such that they will readily pass the radially disposed apertures 19 in the rib sections 18 of the escutcheon 16.

With this yconstruction it will be seen that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 the escutcheon 16 may be rotated freely. there being provided, preferably, a

thimble 23 at the stem aperture in the end 110 of the escutcheon to give it bearing for the stem 13. The continued rotation of the escutcheon will cause the lugs 2O in the groove 17 of the escutcheon to engage the lugs 22 on the nut 21 so that the nut Will be rotated on the threaded section of the shank 12 and fed rearwardly or in the direction of the rib 18 of the escutcheon 16. Continued rotation will, of course, set the nut 21 up against the rib sections 18 with a clamping action and clamp the escutcheon firmly and evenly in place the clamping strain being distributed equally by the four lugs 22 so that danger of racturing the vitreous Ware by uneven pressure upon the rib sections 18 is practically eliminated. Removal of the escutcheon will, of course7 be accomplished by rotating the escutcheon and nut in a reverse direction.

t- Will be seen that the escutcheon Will be entirely closed about its base, there being no necessity for the formation or tool openings to permit access to fastening means, and that a perfectly tight covering escutcheon is provided, and one which, by the simple rotation of the escutcheon, may be placed or removed.

In assembling or disassembling the parts it is necessary, after the fitting 11 and the faucet 12 have been placed. with respect to the Wall board or slab7 to simply run the nut 21 on to the threaded portion ot the shanln place the stem 13 with its valve and thecap nut 15 in place, after which the escutcheon 16 vrill be slipped over the stem, its apertures 19 moved past the lugs 22 and the handle 111 Will be secured to the stem and 'the escutcheon may then be set up against the slab by rotating it7 and with it the nut, in th e manner heretofore described.

lt is obvious that changes in the construction and design of the parts may be made Without departing from my invention, for with different Astyles and shapes of littings variousforms and other mechanical expediente may be adopted.

l claim:

1. im escutclieon having clamp rotating means on a Wall thereof.

2. A hollow escutcheon having clamp-ro ta-ting means on its inner Wall.

3. ik, hollow escutcheon adapted to receive escutcheon clamp, clamp-rotating lugs on the inner wall oiisaid escutcheon, and inwardly projecting rib'sections and alternating apertureson such inner Wall and spaced from said clamp-rotating lugs.

l-. i hollow escutcheon of vitreous Ware adapted to receive 4an escutcheon clamp, a clamp-rotating lug molded on the inner ivall cic said escutcheon, and a non-continuous inwardly,v projecting clamp-engaging rib molded on theinner Wall of said escutcheon at the base thereof and spaced from said clamp-rotating lug.

5. A hollow escutcheon of vitreous Ware having an interior clamp-receiving recess; a radially disposed7 clamp-rotating lug in `said recess, and a radially disposed clampengagmg rib proyecting inwardly from the Wall of said esciitcheon and spaced Jrom said rclamp-rotating lug.

ln Vtestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

- l PHILIP MUELLER. 

